Insulation piercing connector for wires



May 26, 1970 J. c. RAY 3514,52@

INSULATION PIERCING CONNECTOR FOR WIRES Filed Nov. l5, 1967 2Sheets-Sheet 1 BY ff J. C. RAY

INSULATION lPIERGING CONNECTOR FOR WIRES May 26, 1970 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Fil-ed Nov. 13, 1967 FIG FIG. 7

IIIIIIIII,III

INVENTORZ JiMMY C. RAY

United States Patent Of 3,514,528 INSULATION PIERCING CONNECTOR FORWIRES Jimmy C. Ray, Rte. 2, Box 33, Denison, Tex. 75020 Filed Nov. 13,1967, Ser. No. 682,364

Int. Cl. H02g 15/08 U.S. Cl. 174-84 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREA three-layer connector for wires has a U-shaped configuration in crosssection before use. The layers in,- cl-ude a resilient metal interiorconducting part, a ductile metal intermediate part, and an insulatorouter part. Either of the wings of the U may be bent over independentlyto attach the connector to one or two Iwires and additional wire may beconnected by bending the other wing down. The wings are bentsimultaneously in many installations.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The subject matter of thisapplication is adapted to be used in a system as disclosed in mycopending application filed Feb. 7, 1966, in the U.S. Patent Ofiice,Ser. No. 525,506. No claim of priority is made.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This inventionrelates to an electrical connection of wires and more particularly to aconnector for insulated communication wires.

Description of the prior art Graff et al., in U.S. Pat. 3,064,072,issued Nov. 13, 1962, discloses a three-part connector wherein a pair ofwires are inserted into a closed cup. The wires to be connected aremoved axially into the cup (or the cup moved axially onto the wires)Collier, U.S. Pat. 3,194,877, issued July 13, 1967, and Jugle, U.S. Pat.3,242,256, issued Mar. 22, 1966, and Thompson, U.S. Pat. 3,303,266,issued Feb. 7, 1967, disclose connectors having the basic open U-shapedcontiguration and cross section.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION I have invented a connector having theadvantages of the Graff et al., three-element conductor in that a goodsolid connection can be made. The ductile intermediate metal portion hasthe same thermal expansion as the wires being connected and, therefore,with the expansion and contraction of the parts due to temperaturechanges, there is not a tightening or loosening of the joint. The wireto be spliced is moved transverse the connector to place the wire in theconnector, therefore, greatly speeding the process.

Furthermore, I have designed the connector so that the wings may befolded over a wire to connect one or more wires to the connectorseparately. Therefore, several connectors may be attached to severalwires of one ICC cable by bending over one wing to the one wire.Thereafter, the splice may be completed by bending over the other wingof the connector to a wire of another cable.

Bridges rnay be made wherein a connector is attached to a wire andthereafter a running wire may be bridged into it, again using thewing-at-a-time connection. For certain automatic operation the connectorhas a plurality of small perforated indentions from the inter-resilientelement so that there is no necessity for careful orientation of thewires before the crimping of the connector. In this regard it is noticedthat in all cases the connector is crimped with a tapered crimp, i.e.,the connector at the end of the wire has a closer bite together than atthe end of the connector through which the wire extends.

An object of this invention is to electrically connect two or more wirestogether.

Other objects are to achieve the above with a device that is sturdy,compact, durable, lightweight, efcient, simple, safe, versatile, andreliable, yet inexpensive and easy to manufacture, install, andmaintain.

Still further objects are to achieve the above with a method that issafe, rapid, lightweight, efficient, and inexpensive, and does notrequire skilled people to install, adjust and maintain.

The specific nature of the invention, as well as other objects, uses,and advantages thereof, will clearly appear from the followingdescription and from the accompanying drawing, the different views ofwhich are not necessarily to the same scale.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connectoraccording to this invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the connector.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the connector crimped to two wires forming abutt splice.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the connector crimped to two wires forming abridge splice.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view through the middle of a splice as wouldbe seen on line 5-5 of FIG. 4, with the connector shown in the positionbefore crimping in dotted lines.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional View through the end of a splice as would beseen on line 6-6 at FIG. 4, with the 1c onnector shown in the positionbefore crimping in dotted ines.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view through a bridge splice as wouldbe seen on line 7-7 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view through a butt splice as wouldbe seen on line 8-8 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring specically to thedrawing, the innermost -rnetal member, insert 10, includes web 12 at thebottom and two wings 14 on each side of the web, thus forming a U-shapedconfiguration in section. The wings have a lower straight part 16, whichare bent at right angles to the web 12. Flange 18 is above the part 16and angled inwardly at about 45 thereto. Above the flange 18, the Wing14 terminates with lip 20, which is at right angles to the web 12,therefore parallel to the part 16 of the wings. As illustrated, the lip20 is quite narrow. The insert is made of a hard resilient noncorrosiveconductive metal and has a plurality of tanged perforations 22throughout. The tangs of these perforations 22 form a contact point tocontact wire 24 which is inserted into the connector. There is a row ofperforations in the flange 18 and a row in the lip 20. On each end ofthe lip 20 there is a notch 26 for purposes that will be describedlater.

Intermediate metal member, sleeve 28 of U-shaped configuration,surrounds the insert 10. The sleeve includes web 30, the inside -Widthof which is equal to the outside width of the insert web 12. Extendingfrom right angles on either side of the web 30 are wings 32, the insideof which contact the outside of the wings 14 of the insert 10. The topof the wings 32 are capped with flange 34 which lays along on top of theflange 18 and the edge of the flange 34 butts against the lip 20 (FIG.5). The sleeve 28 is constructed of a ductile metal, it is thicker thanthe insert 10. Therefore, the sleeve 28 furnishes the strength holdingthe insert 10 in contact with the wire 24. Also, the coeicient ofthermal expansion of the sleeve 28 is the same as for the wire 24 and,therefore, the sleeve 28 holds the tangs of the perforations 22 rmlyembedded in the wire 24 and there is no slippage or change in therelationship due to a difference in thermal expansion and contraction.

Insulating jacket 36 of U-shaped configuration, made of suitableplastic, surrounds the sleeve 28. By plastic I means any of thosesynthetic or resin materials which are adapted rby their insulatingproperties as well as certain physical structural properties as will bedescribed hereinafter. Inasmuch as the material of the jacket itselfforms no part of this invention and will be well known to those skilledin the art, it is not further described here. The jacket 36 has Web 38the interior width of -which equals the exterior width of the sleeve web30. However, the jacket 36, including the web 38 thereof, is longer thanthe sleeve 28 and longer than the insert 10. It will be noted that thesleeve 28 is slightly longer than insert 10. When the connection iscomplete to a wire, the jacket 36 insulates the connector so there is nopossibility of chance electrical contact with the sleve 28 or insert 10.Wings 40 of the jacket 36 are at right angles to either side of the web38 and are in contact -with the outside of the sleeve wings 32.

The top of each wing 40 terminates with short liange 42 which extendsover the sleeve ange 34. On each end of each wing 40, collar or tab 44wraps around sleeve 28 and insert 10, as seen in the drawing. Thiscollar or tab 44 ts or correlates with notch 26 to securely position theinsert 10 with respect to the jacket 36.

The term butt splice as used herein will indicate a connection of twowires with each wire terminating within the connector (FIG. 3). To makea butt splice, the two wires 24 to be electrically connected are placedparallel to one another with their ends 46 even or nearly so. Then thetwo wires are moved transversely of their length into the connector sothat the wires 24 extend at least half the length of the insert 10 andpreferably a little more. However, the ends 46 of the wires 24 shouldnot extend beyond the end of the insert 10. Generally speaking, thewires 24 will be lying side by side and contacting the web 12 of theinsert 10. Then the connector is crimped so that the Wings 40, 32, and14, are attened down against the wire and extend along and above theweb. As seen in FIG. 8, there is a taper to the crimping mechanism sothat the connector is crimped with the wings closer to the web at theend of the connector containing the ends 46 of the wires. The tangs ofthe perforations 22 pierce through the insulation upon the wires 24 andpierce the surface of the metal of wire 24 itself, therbey making a goodelectrical connection. Inasmuch as the operation of the tangedperforation into the metal is well known to the art as disclosed in theGraft Pat. 3,064,072, noted above, it will not be further describedhere.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 would also represent section through a butt splice.When the crimp is completed upon the wires, the lips 20 are facing oneanother and in contact with one another and the insulation of the jacket`-36 along the flange 42 forms a butt relationship so that theconnection is completely insulated. t

When the wires 24 are placed in the connector, they are moved transverseof their length. Also, although normally the wires will be placed in theconnector so that they are parallel and both lie along the bottom web121of the insert 10, it is not essential that they be placed `in such aneat arrangement, i.e., if the wires should be slightly twisted or oneon top of the other, a good connection will still be made. This is thepurpose of having perforations along the lips 20 and the lips foldingdown to meet one another. Therefore, if both wires were right in themiddle of the connector and slightly twisted around one another, thetangs of perforations 22 will make good electrical contact.

The term bridge splice as used herein means a splice wherein two wiresare connected together. (FIG. 4 for example), one wire 48 terminatingwith its end S0 within the connector, and the other wire 52 extendsthrough 'the connector, but electrical contact is made with the Wire. Tomake a bridge splice, the rst wire 48 is placed within the connector,moving the wire transverse to its length and placing the `wire withinthe insert 10 along in a corner formed between the web 12 and one of thewings 14. The end would be within the insert 10 and the wire wouldextend along a considerable portion of the insert 10 and preferablyabout three-fourths of the length of the insert 10. Then one wing onlyis folded over, forming good electrical contact with this one wire.Thereafter, the second wire 52 is placed in the connector with the wireextending out on each end of the connector. The wire is placed incontact with the web 12 and the other wing 14. Then that wing is crimpeddown and the connection is complete. In the bridge splice it will beobvious that if one of the wires were wanted to be disconnected, thereis sufficient flexibility to the material of the jacket 36 that one ofthe ends of wire 52 may be cut within the contines of the nondeformedjacket so that the jacket reassumes its normal shape to insulate thewire where cut.

In a crimp as seen in FIG. 7, a crimping tool would be used having ahammer having a lower portion in the middle and tapering upward on bothsides against a at anvil and, therefore, the crimp would be lower at thecenter and more strain exerted as between the tangs of perforation 22and the wire 52 than towards the ends.

It would fbe apparent that the embodiment shown is only exemplary andthat various modifications can be made in operation, construction,materials, and arrangement within the scope of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A connector for splicing insulated wire comprising (a) a U-shapedinsert (i) made of resilient metal (ii) having a plurality of tangedperforations therein,

(b) a U-shaped sleeve (i) made of ductile metal (ii) contacting theoutside of the insert, and (c) a U-shaped jacket i) made of insulatingmateiral (ii) contacting the outside of the sleeve,

(d) the wings of the insert extending beyond the wings of the sleeveforming a lip with perforations therein; so that when the wings arecrimped in over a pair of wires in the connector the lips butt againstone another as does the edges of the jacket.

2. The invention as delined in claim 1 with the additional limitation of(e) notches in the wings of the insert and (f) tabs on the wings of thejacket 6 (b) in the notches so thatthe elements are securely ReferencesCited held in the proper relationship. UNITED STATES PATENTS 3. Theinvention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitation of2,093,275 9/ 1937 Johnson.

3, 20,333 (e) the top of the wings of the sleeve havmg flanges 53,0%2256 grrt et al 174- 94 that 21.1131@ llwafd- 3,303,266 2/1967Thompson. v 4. The inventlon as defined 1n clalm 3 with the addi-3,320,354 5 /1967 Marley et aL 174 gg XR tiolfal limllatlonlf f h d3,406,247 10/ 1968 Parsons 174-88 notc es int ewin so t einsert an (ggtabs on the wings f the jacket 10 DARRELL L. CLAY, Primary Examiner (h)in the notches so that the elements are securely U.S. C1. X.R.

held in the proper relationship. 29-628; 174-87; 287-109; 339-97, 276

